Lewistown, IL – The Illinois State Police Zone 4 Investigative Office presented a Department Unit Citation to Mr. Alan Harn of the Illinois State Museum, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Mr. Harn is assistant curator of anthropology for the Dickson Mounds Museum, located in Lewistown, Illinois. In 2005, Mr. Harn was requested to assist with the Larry Bright serial murder investigation in the Peoria, Illinois area. His expertise in excavation techniques and human osteology helped locate and identify skeletal remains recovered at the crime scenes as being human.

Mr. Harn’s background includes over 48 years of excavating archaeological sites and providing analyses of remains that are found. This type of anthropological examination has proven invaluable to law enforcement agencies, which frequently rely on his forensic expertise in criminal investigations. Harn is the author of nearly 80 publications, papers, and other scientific studies involving anthropology.

The Unit Citation that Mr. Harn received at the Zone 4 meeting reads in part: “Your contributions in this case were critical to the successful identification and arrest of the person responsible for the death of a least eight women. Your devotion to duty removed a dangerous killer from the streets.”